SIGIST review ?

Did anyone go to the SIGIST conference on June 18 ?
If so, what was it like ?

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Permalink Reply by Martin Wright on June 19, 2008 at 4:12pm: I was one of the 180 attendees at the June 2008 SIGIST. The theme was "Is traditional testing flexible enough".

There was a very good session about the testing of the baggage system at Heathrow Terminal 5. The talk was focused on how they tested it and did not focus on what happened since go-live. There was a suggestion that maybe this could be discussed in 12 months time!

The commercial break included a plug for http://www.testinggeek.com and an intro from a tester at the BBC who is looking to recruit.

The meeting coincided with the SIGIST AGM where a new constitution was voted in whereby those voting would have no further say in decisions being made! Basically the SIGIST group is being pulled back into the BCS for many mutual benefical reasons. If as a non-BCS member you wish to attend future SIGIST events there is likely to be a cost of £110 as opposed to the current cost of £100.

Other sessions included introducing testing to the entire organisation - a kind of change management for testing, details on the new ISO testing standards, an overview of testing the NHS Spine from BT and a intro to Agile testing from Sky.

The closing keynote was looking at trends which will shape the future of testing. There was then open discussion around outsourcing, offshoring, nearshoring, agile development, and 24/5 development.

The lunch was very good as were the biscuits. All done by a minute past 5 and in The Volunteer for more networking shortly after.

Another great event, if you've not tried it yet, the next one is planned for 18 September 2008. Check http://www.sigist.org.uk for details.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by phil kirkham on June 20, 2008 at 7:22am: thanks for the review, sounds like it was a good one

I usually try and get to them but had a full diary this month, will try and get to the next one - and for all those who haven't been to one, well recommended ( especially the networking in the Volunteer ! ); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Thomas Ponnet on June 20, 2008 at 10:33am: I didn't go this time as I was too busy - life took over. I missed the Volunteer last time as I had to catch my plane, next time I will make sure that doesn't happen again!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Komal on July 1, 2008 at 9:11am: Hi Martin,

I attended the conference and I was the one who mentioned about my website www.testinggeek.com :)

I attended it for the first time and looking for ward to attending teh september one also.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Amy Thompson on June 25, 2008 at 10:54pm: I am thinking of going to the next one in September. Is it worth the £110? I joined the BCS a few years ago and tried to contact one of the specialist groups but none of my emails or voice messages were answered. Had the same problem too when I tried to register for the June SIGIST conference.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by phil kirkham on June 26, 2008 at 7:40am: I would say it's worth it - I've been to 2 and really enjoyed them, not just the actual content of the day but also the chance to meet and network with other testers

it will be a while yet before the details of the September one are known but there's usually a good mix

and the fact that I should be there should be the final selling point :); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Martin Wright on June 26, 2008 at 8:33am: Just check the content of the day as sometimes there may be nothing of interest or relevance. I think Lee Copeland is presenting in September. Also, its worth getting booked early if you want to get on the workshops.

The booking of the conference is now being handled by the BCS so you may have been unlucky with your June experience. The BCS is trying to exert more control over SIG's, possibly because of similar problems. I know that 3 of us here got booked OK in June.

Another event that was plugged at the SIGIST is the Test Management Forum (http://www.uktmf.com/index.php?q=node/109) at which James Whittaker from Microsoft is speaking about the future of software testing.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Nick Young on June 30, 2008 at 4:09pm: Hi, I'm fairly new to this blogging game, so I chose this conference attendance to start, this being my very first blog. :) http://home.nn-y.co.uk; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by phil kirkham on June 30, 2008 at 5:25pm: And a nice start it is !

and yeh, they could do with more seats for people trying to eat their lunch :); ▶ Reply to This